This small personal website exists merely to encourage an interest in international relations, politics, security, defence and current conflicts -- and the Western and Islamic ethics at play within these fields -- as well as to offer source-based arguments about them for readers' appraisal in the hope of contributing to healthy and respectful discourse.

―o0o―

Professor Joel Hayward ZDaF, BA, MA Hons, PhD, FRSA, FRHistS

(copyright free image)

Professor Joel Hayward is a New Zealand-born British scholar, writer and poet. Commencing in 2017 he is Professor of Strategic Thought at the National Defense College (NDC) of the United Arab Emirates, located in Abu Dhabi. From 2012 to 2016 he held two academic leadership positions
within Khalifa University, also in Abu Dhabi. He was both the Director of the
Institute of International and Civil Security and the Chair of the
multidisciplinary Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. He
joined Khalifa University as a full Professor of International and Civil
Security in 2012, after having enjoyed a Fellowship at the Cambridge Muslim College. On 5 October 2016 he was named as the "Best Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences" at the 2016 Middle East Education Leadership Awards.

His
career highlights include having been the Dean of the prestigious and
historical Royal Air Force College for five years (2007-2011), Director
of the Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies for four years
(2008-2012), Head of King's College London's Air Power Studies Division
for six years (2005-2011), as well as Program Coordinator, Centre for
Defense Studies, and Senior Lecturer in Defense and Strategic Studies,
Massey University (both in New Zealand). He has also been the lead air
power academic for King’s College London’s MA degree, Air Power in the
Modern World, which was the UK’s first specialist degree programme in
air power studies. He is also honoured to be Professor of Strategy
(Adjunct) at the Indonesian Defense University in Jakarta. Further, he
is an "expert" contributor to Think Africa Press.

A former competitive amateur boxer and
weightlifter, with a first degree in Classical Studies, Prof Hayward is especially interested in international politics, Just
War and the ethics of modern conflict. He also researches and lectures on the
Islamic laws and ethics of security. He is interested in both the influence of
conflict on Islam and the influence of Islam on conflict.

He is fascinated by comparative
religious studies and the impact of religion on politics, and reads the scriptures of the monotheistic faiths in their
original languages (Hebrew, Greek and Arabic). Also able to read Latin and
speak or read several modern languages, he has undertaken extensive primary
research in Russian and German archives.

Some of his works have been
translated into Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Serbian, German and Chinese. In
January 2012, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman,
Jordan, published his concise monograph, Warfare in the Qur'an.

He is currently writing a new book, Prophet and Warrior: The Conduct and Justice of Muhammad's Military Campaigns, based on a careful analysis of the earliest Arabic sources.

Prof
Hayward has lectured widely throughout Europe, Asia and beyond on
various defense, security, ethics and religious topics and is a
Professor of Strategy (Adjunct) at the Indonesian Defense University. He
has given strategic advice to national political and military leaders
in several countries, has given policy advice to prominent shaykhs, and
has tutored His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales (future king of
England).

Professor Joel Hayward and the Secretary General of the Indonesia Ministry of Defense (Jakarta 2010)

In
October 2010 Professor Hayward spoke (twice) at the Global Peace &
Unity (GPU) conference on the topic: "War & Ethics: The
Compatibility of 'Western' and Islamic Thought". He especially enjoyed
speaking alongside General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence
Staff, at the Eid Celebration of the Armed Forces Muslim Association on
17 December 2010.

In
2011 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and in
2012 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

In March 2014, Prof Hayward received
ijazas in ʿAqīdah and Sirah.

Unusually
for a social scientist, Prof Hayward is also very active in the
literary arts. He has published much poetry and fiction, including two
books of short stories and three collections of poetry. They have garnered
strong reviews. His poems have appeared in many literary and community
magazines and journals, includingDamazine, Al Mu'min, Spin, Fresh, The Invitation, Southern Ocean Review, Chaff, Nineteen-O-Splash, The Mozzie and Valley Micropress. Following on from Lifeblood: A Book of Poems (2003), his second major poetry collection, Splitting the Moon: A Collection of Islamic Poetry, was published by Kube Publishers in 2012. His third collection, Poems from the Straight Path: A Book of Islamic Verse, published by White Cloud Press, appeared in 2017. His fourth collection, Pain and Passing: Islamic Poems of Grief and Healing, which deals with the tragic death of his wife Kathy, will appear in coming months.

"Hayward’s journey of exploration,
transformation and illumination forms the beating heart of this moving
collection of poetry [which is] a timely and important work
that reveals the struggle and profound insights of someone bridging cultures
and faith traditions."

— Passion Islam, November
2017.

A representative review:

"[Joel
Hayward] is a very skilful and gifted poet whose way with words is
impressive. His poems are easy to understand, highly pertinent and
equally spiritually profound, that is to say, this collection of poems
are much more than poetry; they also provide a powerful commentary on
the social, political, moral and religious challenges and difficulties
currently facing Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The fact that he is able
to do this in an elegant, evocative and inspiring way is an added
bonus. ... The poem titled The Voyage of a Scholar … is a
beautiful example of how the poet is able to blend the personal,
emotional, spiritual and existential dimensions of human experience, and
do so without in any way over-playing or undermining any aspect. This
is a very rare skill for a poet to possess. ... This is one of the best
collections of Islamic poems I have read for some time; a must read
for both Muslims and non-Muslims.”